Republic of Cyprus

Christoforos Savva: Untimely, Again. Christoforos Savva (1924-1968) is widely acknowledged as one of the most ground- breaking Cypriot artists of the 20th century. After spending much of the 1950s in Paris and London, he settled back in Nicosia in 1960, where he produced a highly diverse body of works. His oeuvre was unparalleled in the incipient local art scene, appropriating and reinventing themes and styles while involving references to numerous art movements and historical periods. He was also the founder, together with Welsh artist Glyn Hughes, of Apophasis [Decision], the first independent cultural centre of the then newly established Republic of Cyprus. In 1968, Savva was among the artists representing Cyprus in its inaugural pavilion in Venice. Bringing his work back to Venice is an opportunity to reflect, fifty years later, on the processes that have shaped the post-independence image of the newly founded state and the course of its art.